Happy Easter!

Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Happy Easter to you and your loved ones.

As you can imagine Holy Week is a news-intensive week here. Here are some of the highlights of the week.

Br. Rob Magliula, our Superior got back from his one month visitation to our house in South Africa on Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday and following Sabbath. From top left, clockwise: the altar party blessing the palms in Pilgrim Hall (Br. John, thurifer, Ben Hansknecth, Br. Aidan and Br. Robert Leo); the palms; a Dungeon and Dragons game in St Scholastica (Br. Aidan, The Rev. Matthew Wright, Ben Hansknecht and Yanick Savain); Aidan and Matthew listening to information from their Dungeon Master (Ben); Ben and Yanick who studies the map.

Critters are appearing everywhere as spring unfolds. Deer and turkeys are frequent visitors to our meadow. Amphibians and reptiles are coming out of hibernation as the peepers' concerts tell us.

Landscapes and critters of West Park. From top left, clockwise: I can't tire of colorful sunrises over the river; Pseudotriton ruber a.k.a. as an orange newt; unidentified juvenile snake; a visiting turkey; Kassina maculata a.k.a. Red-legged running frog crossing the road; the back of the monastery bathed in the rising sun; a barge and its tugboat making their way in the fog.

On Wednesday of Holy Week, we received Mr. Alan Yarborough into the Associates of Holy Cross Monastery. It is always a joy to welcome a new Associate to our round of mutual prayer and fellowship. Have you considered becoming an Associate? It is most probably easier than you think. Get in touch with Br. Josép Martinez-Cubero, our Director of Associates.

Our latest Associate, Alan Yarborough, from Washington, DC. From top left, clockwise: Alan listens attentively to Br. Josép's invitation to join the Associates; Father Huntington's icon approvingly blessing the proceedings; Br. Josép welcomes Alan as our newest Associate; Alan's Associate's Pledge.

Also mid-week, we had a couple of long-awaited residents of the monastery arrive sooner than we'd expected. Thanks to a donation in memory of Br. Robert James' parents, Lucy and Amadeo Magliula, we were able to acquire a beautifully carved and painted sculpture of the Madonna and Child. No sooner had they arrived that they were ushered to their quarters in St Augustine's Church. And no sooner had they settled down that we veiled them for the Triduum! We got to see them again this Easter morning and the statue was blessed at Easter Vespers.

Mother and Child. From top left, clockwise: Br. Robert Leo and Br. Robert James unpack the carefully protected statue; the statue in its shipping crate; at home in their niche in the front of the church; a close-up.

Come and visit them soon!

Our Triduum visitors were greeted by blooming daffodils and origami butterflies, compliments of Br. Laurence and Max Esmus, our Postulant.

Butterflies and Daffodils. 45 lovingly folded origami butterflies landed on guests' pillows while a swath of daffodils beckons in the second turn of our driveway.

Signs of spring are found throughout the grounds. Magnolias and ornamental cherry trees put in a good show. Br. Aidan is progressively getting seedlings acclimated to the outside and putting them in the ground.

Blooms galore. From top left, clockwise: Magnolia grandiflora provides shade to a St Francis statue near the toolshed; another magnolia frames the Vanderbilt Mansion in the distance; seedlings getting used to the outside; a magnolia bloom ready for its close-up; a weeping cherry tree that was planted as a memorial for our late Br. Bernard Van Waes; Associate Carole Craddock, from NYC enjoys a chat with Br. Carl in the garden.

The Triduum attracted a full Guest House of guests and several local visitors. If you haven't experienced a Triduum at our monastery yet, you should think about it. It's a beautiful and deeply moving spiritual experience. Brother Bernard preached on Maundy Thursday. 

The Rev. Matthew Wright preached on Good Friday. And Brother Josép preached on Easter morning. You can listen to their sermons or read them on our sermon blog (what? you didn't know we had a sermon blog? Now you do). But nothing matches the deeply embodied experience of living through the Three Days of Easter with fellow souls on the spiritual journey.

The Triduum. From top left, clockwise: the altar of repose in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit (our Chapter Room, in the monastic enclosure) where guests and monks kept watch all night after the Maundy Thursday liturgy; listening to the history of salvation in the refectory as the sun rises; blessing the water with the paschal candle in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit; Br. Bernard reading the epistle in the Saint Augustine Church; spent vigil candles and the vigil bulletin.

We wish you a blessed Eastertide.